In the News:
£10m State Cash for First Hindu School
Posted December 27, 2006
Hare Krishna movement to offer guidance to 240 primary pupils in Harrow
Sunday December 24, 2006
Britain's first state-funded school for Hindus, which will receive guidance from the Hare Krishna movement, is to get the go ahead, backed by almost £10m of taxpayers' money. The news is seen as a major cultural breakthrough by Britain's 600,000-strong Hindu community which has long campaigned for state-funded schools for its followers. But it has also attracted criticism from secular groups who claim that religion and education do not mix. The Krishna-Avanti school, which will be advised by Iskcon - the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, better known as the Hare Krishna movement - will be based in Harrow, north-west London. A planning application will be submitted to the local council next month and the school is expected to open in September 2008.